STANDARDS FOR MEDICINES— COOK 433 



physician and of his associate who is supposed to have prepared the 

 medicines. Legend recounts the stoiy of an Egyptian physician 

 known by the name of Imhotep who Uved about 3000 B. C, and he is 

 reputed to have used many combinations of medicines. 



That there is some justification for these unverified traditions of 

 remote civilization is borne out by the discovery of an ahnost perfect 

 Egyptian manuscript dated 1552 B. C, which consisted of a collec- 

 tion of medicinal formulas. This is called, after the name of the 

 discoverer, the Ebers Papyrus, and is evidently a record of the medi- 

 cines known at the time when Moses Hved; it must have represented 

 the accumulated knowledge of the centuries. Here are recorded 

 about 700 simple drugs representing the vegetable, animal, and 

 mineral kingdoms, and while many were impossible and worthless, it 

 is remarkable that the Ust included substances which find a place even 

 in the latest hsts of present-day medicines. Among these were 

 turpentine, castor oil, anise, henbane or hyoscyamus, poppy capsules, 

 which were the forerunner of opium, aloes, myrrh, cassia, gentian, 

 colchicum, and squill. Among the mineral substances were iron, 

 lead, magnesia, nitre, vermihon, copper sulphate, sodium carbonate, 

 and sodium chloride. 



The use of precious stones, finely divided, was a form of medical 

 treatment. These were ordered of various types and prices, depend- 

 ing upon the abihty of the patient to pay. For the wealthy the 

 emerald or lapis lazuh or the sapphire were dhectcd, but for those 

 less able to pay green porcelain or a similar appearmg colored glass 

 was acceptable. 



This behef in the medical value of precious stones did not end with 

 the Egyptian era for they are found in the pharmacopoeias of Europe 

 of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, showing how tradition 

 and superstition can be continued for centuries. 



Animal drugs were also present in abundance. It would seem 

 as though the more offensive the more merit was anticipated. Cer- 

 tainly this early physician was willing to try every material at hand, 

 hoping that he might discover that God-given remedy which he be- 

 hoved was provided as a cure for every disease. It would seem also 

 as though they beHeved that special merit resided in any substance 

 which had an ofi"ensive odor and so among the recorded animal drugs 

 were lizards' blood, swine's teeth, putrid meat, stinking fat, moisture 

 from pigs' ears, excreta from many sources, including flies, and other 

 substances even more revolting. Some of the formulas were very 

 simple and evidently mild in action, as, for instance, one for headache 

 caUing for frankincense, cummin and an unidentified beny, all mixed 

 with goose grease and applied externally. 



On the other hand, some formulas were exceedingly complex; 

 one for a poultice containmg 35 ingredients with complicated direc- 



